More people choose natural pain relief because the guidelines changed, the risks of long-term medication became clearer, and the results hold up. The American College of Physicians recommends hands-on care before drugs for new low back pain. The 2022 opioid guideline from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that non-opioid options are preferred for pain lasting a month or longer. Use of non-drug approaches has climbed nationally, from 19.2% of adults in 2002 to 36.7% in 2022, according to an analysis published in JAMA. Patients at HealthQuest Longevity usually give a simpler reason. They want to move normally again without taking something every day. The rest of this article covers the data behind that shift, the risks people want to avoid, and who natural pain relief suits best.

How Common Is Chronic Pain Now

Pain is affecting more adults, not fewer. A report from the National Center for Health Statistics using 2023 national survey data found that 24.3% of American adults had chronic pain in the past three months. Another 8.5% had high-impact chronic pain, meaning pain that regularly limited work or daily activity.

Those numbers are rising. In 2019, the same survey put chronic pain at 20.4% and high-impact chronic pain at 7.4%.

Measure	2019	2023
Adults with chronic pain	20.4%	24.3%
Adults with pain that regularly limits life or work	7.4%	8.5%

The report also found chronic pain was more common in women than men, increased with age, and was higher in less urban areas. More people living with lasting pain means more people looking for something they can use long term without side effects building up.

What Changed in the National Guidelines

This is the part most patients have never been told.

In 2017, the American College of Physicians published a clinical practice guideline in Annals of Internal Medicine. For new low back pain, it recommends superficial heat, massage, acupuncture, or spinal manipulation first. Medication comes second, and if it is used, the guideline points to anti-inflammatory drugs or muscle relaxants. For long-term low back pain, the first-line list is also non-drug and includes exercise, multidisciplinary rehabilitation, acupuncture, mindfulness-based stress reduction, tai chi, yoga, movement control exercise, cognitive behavioral therapy, and spinal manipulation.

In 2022, the CDC published its clinical practice guideline for prescribing opioids. Two points matter for anyone with back or neck pain. Non-opioid therapies are preferred for pain lasting one to three months and for pain lasting longer than three months. And for many types of short-term pain, including low back pain, neck pain, and injuries such as sprains, strains, tendonitis, and bursitis, non-opioid options are described as at least as effective as opioids.

Put simply, hands-on care moved from alternative to recommended.

Why People Want to Use Less Pain Medication

Medication still has a role. Most patients are not trying to eliminate it. They are trying to stop needing it several days a week.

Anti-Inflammatory Drug Risks

In July 2015, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration strengthened its warning that non-aspirin anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen and naproxen can increase the chance of a heart attack or stroke. The FDA noted the risk can appear as early as the first weeks of use and may grow the longer the drugs are taken. The warning applies to both prescription and over-the-counter versions. Aspirin is not included.

For someone taking an anti-inflammatory drug most days for years, that adds up.

Opioid Risks

The opioid picture is improving, and the scale is still sobering. Provisional CDC data show about 80,400 drug overdose deaths in the United States in 2024, down from roughly 110,000 in 2023. Opioid-involved deaths fell from about 83,100 to about 54,700 over the same period.

Prevention starts earlier than most people think. A study published in BMJ Open in 2019 followed 216,504 adults with new low back pain who had never taken opioids. Those whose first provider was a chiropractor had 90% lower odds of early opioid use.

Important: never stop a prescription on your own. Talk with the prescribing doctor. Natural pain relief is meant to work alongside medical care.

What the Research Shows About Natural Pain Relief

Study or source	What it examined	What it found
Comparative effectiveness trial published in JAMA Network Open, 2018	750 active-duty service members with low back pain at three military sites	Adding chiropractic care to usual medical care improved pain intensity, disability, and satisfaction at six weeks, with self-reported pain medication use favoring the chiropractic group and no serious adverse events
Meta-analysis published in Pain Medicine, 2020	Six studies covering 62,624 people with spinal pain	Chiropractic users had 64% lower odds of receiving an opioid prescription than non-users
Systematic review published in PAIN Reports, 2026	Two randomized trials and 18 cohort studies, more than six million participants	Chiropractic care was linked to 64% lower odds of an opioid prescription and 73% lower odds of starting long-term opioid use, with larger reductions when care began within 30 days, though the authors rated overall certainty as very low
Review of Medicare and insurance claims for back pain in three New England states	More than 101,000 adults followed over six years	Risk of filling an opioid prescription was cut roughly in half among people who received chiropractic care, with a larger reduction when care started early
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality review, 2018	Non-drug treatments for chronic pain	Exercise, psychological therapy, spinal manipulation, massage, low-level laser therapy, mindfulness-based stress reduction, yoga, acupuncture, and multidisciplinary rehabilitation improved pain, function, or both for at least one month

How Many People Are Choosing This

The trend is measurable. An analysis published in JAMA in 2024 used national survey data from 2002, 2012, and 2022 to track seven non-drug approaches, including chiropractic care, massage therapy, acupuncture, and yoga.

Finding	2002	2022
Adults using at least one of the seven approaches	19.2%	36.7%
Among users, the share using them specifically for pain	42.3%	49.2%
Adults practicing yoga	5.0%	15.8%
Adults using acupuncture	1.0%	2.2%

Chiropractic use has grown steadily on its own. National Center for Health Statistics figures show it rising from 9.1% of adults in 2012 to 10.3% in 2017, with slightly higher use among women than men.

Is Natural Pain Relief Covered by Insurance

Often yes, and coverage has widened as guidelines shifted toward non-drug care first. HealthQuest Longevity accepts Medicare, Medicare Advantage plans, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and United Healthcare. For services outside a plan, or for patients without coverage, cash pricing and package options are available.

Two practical points help before you book:

• Call and confirm coverage for your specific plan and diagnosis
• Ask what a full plan of care looks like, not just the price of one visit

Who Natural Pain Relief Suits Best

It suits mechanical pain, which comes from joints, muscles, discs, and nerves rather than from disease. That includes low back pain, neck pain and desk-related strain, sciatica, tension headaches, migraine, joint pain, sports injuries, and pregnancy-related back pain. A headache reset program targets the neck joints and muscles feeding recurring head pain, and vitamin therapy can support recovery when testing shows a deficiency.

Some symptoms need medical evaluation first. Guidance published in American Family Physician flags these as warning signs:

• Loss of bladder or bowel control, or numbness in the groin or inner thighs
• Leg weakness that is getting worse over hours or days
• Back pain with fever or chills
• Severe pain after a fall or car accident
• Unexplained weight loss, or new back pain with a history of cancer
• Severe pain at rest or at night that nothing eases

If any of these apply, get medical care before hands-on treatment.

Final Thoughts

More Libertyville residents choose natural pain relief because the evidence moved in that direction and the risks of managing pain with daily medication are now well documented. National guidelines put hands-on and active care first for most back and neck pain. Large studies link starting with a chiropractor to far less opioid use. And nationally, non-drug approaches for pain nearly doubled in twenty years.

If you are relying on pain relievers to get through a normal day, book an appointment with a Libertyville chiropractor and start with an assessment of what is actually causing the pain.